The Max Level Hero Has Returned!
chapter-280

Reina did not know much about magic, but she was certain of one thing. She knew that First Lich Nyx’s statement declaring their death once the clock’s minute hand made a full turn was true.

“Wake up, Mercil!!!”

The most ideal situation for Reina and her party was when Nyx’s seal had been left untouched. However, with that situation now impossible as one of the seals had already been lifted, they had to kill him before he could recover his full strength.

Even the Sword God had failed to kill Nyx, but Reina still had one method to kill the bastard in front of her. Of course, the method had a very low chance of success. This was why Reina needed the help of three people.

Mercil, however, was the most important part of her plan. With him unconscious and foaming at the mouth due to Nyx’s overwhelming power, he was out of commission. Now, the plan was flushed down the drain.

Reina released the black and white flames from her body and moved to attack Nyx. At the very least, she had to earn them enough time so that Mercil would be able to recover. In the first place, the gap between her and Nyx’s powers was so huge that she could only fight him with her final move. But if they collapsed right here and now, then everything would be over.

By now, Reina believed that Prince Davey had already exhausted most of his powers. There was also Grand Duchess Kathryn, who had left her trust in them, sacrificing herself by blocking the powerful enemies alone to allow them to go on ahead. These people had helped their cause.

The flames licking Reina’s body crackled fiercely and twisted together.

Bang!!!

At the same time, Reina shot forward like a cannonball. She struck down as if she wanted to split Nyx into two.

“Ho…”

Something black flashed, blocking Reina’s blow. However, she was sure that the impact of the blow had been fully transmitted to Nyx.

Nyx, however, expressed no fear. His blue eyes just glowed with what seemed to be interest. Moving his hand slowly as if he was truly and genuinely curious, he said, “Amazing. I did not expect the attack to contain this much power…”

Bang!!!

Following the movement of Nyx’s hands, Reina was slammed against the ceiling. She fell to the ground before getting slammed back up again.

“Urk!!!” Reina groaned.

She coughed up blood from under her mask due to the overwhelming force slamming into her. At the same time, her steel mask began to crack apart.

“N… No!!!” Reina shouted.

She trembled as her mask slowly fell off.

“Reina! You were wrong! We have to retreat for now!”

“No! If we retreat now then everything would be in vain.”

Even if she had to die, Reina would make sure to end Nyx here. That was what she firmly believed. So, she charged forward.

It was a very stupid move, but she was sure that only one future awaited this world if they were to retreat here.

“Essylt! Please stabilize Mercil and wake him up! I will buy you some time!”

The priestess Essylt grabbed her staff with shaking hands and nodded tearfully at Reina’s orders.

“Roina! Please protect Essylt and Mercil!”

“Alright,” Roina answered solemnly, leaving her liveliness behind.

She took out the shield behind her back and held it in front of Essylt and Mercil. She took a defensive position as a bright light burst out and covered them.

[Holy Defense]

It was the Holy Knight’s protective barrier. However, it was still weaker compared to the rampaging power in the open space.

“It seems like you are waiting for that member of your party to wake up, huh? But what can a weak human do against me when he’s already incapacitated by a reflux of mana from this torrential power that I released?”

Bang!!!

Reina deemed it unnecessary to answer Nyx, her sword striking down once again on the barrier that protected him with black and white flames erupting from its blade. However, the attack had already been blocked once. It would not be strange for it to get blocked another time.

Instead of stopping, Reina brushed her sword to the side and changed the trajectory of her swing. She spun herself fiercely, landing one attack on Nyx after another. She landed three or four blows with a heavy and pressing weight, but the protective barrier that surrounded Nyx did not even shake or budge.

Reina grew impatient, feeling that something was strange. She was aware that First Lich Nyx was very strong, but the opponent in front of her was far too powerful for his level. The power that Nyx showed right now was just too overwhelming that even Reina could not believe the situation in front of her.

Having assaulted Nyx like a berserker letting loose, Reina’s attacks had an obvious impact. In fact, every swing of her sword would shake the entire space and leave huge sword marks on the cave walls. Unfortunately, none of her attacks dealt any damage to Nyx.

“Interesting! This is interesting!”

Of course, the minute hand on the clock behind Nyx kept on ticking. It had now gone past the twenty-second mark.

Seeing that she had used up a third of her time in just an instant, Reina grew more impatient. She started to burn up her soul more, drawing out the power that she had sealed within her. At this point, Reina thought that she could not afford to hide anything anymore. She had to go all out to kill Nyx.

Reina was growing weaker by the second as her life kept burning away. As for her attacks, they only grew stronger and more intense. The onslaught of her attacks did not stop even when her hands became bloodied and injured.

Swoooooosh…

A thick and powerful force began to coat the blade of Reina’s sword.

[Longsword]

[Horizon]

Slash!!!

Reina swung her sword horizontally, slashing with all her might. She used the former Sword God’s swordsmanship, the Longsword, which was actually very strong and powerful.

Finally, a powerful blow landed a scratch on Nyx’s protective shield.

Nyx had been leisurely defending against Reina’s attack, watching her with interest as he casually launched his own counterattack. When that powerful blow landed, he glanced at the protective barrier that Reina had finally left a scratch on.

Bang!!!

At the same time, Reina was slammed once again on the ground.

“This is very interesting!”

“Urk…”

“N… No! Reina!” Roina shouted urgently.

All of a sudden, black armored knights started to pour out of the crack from the barrier. They charged at Roina with one wave of Nyx’s hand.

To worsen things, Nyx, who had been standing still all this time, finally began to start his counterattack properly.

“You have my respect. I will no longer treat you with disregard and dishonor,” Nyx said bluntly and briefly as a powerful force began to swirl in front of him.

With the appearance of such an overwhelming power, even the priestess Essylt collapsed.

“N… No! Essylt!!!” Roina cried loudly as she desperately cut down the black armored knights who were attacking them.

“Ho. That Holy Knight over there is a pretty good seedling. But if I don’t break and crush this budding seedling quickly, then you would pose a threat to my Lord in the future.”

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!!!

Nyx, who was keeping Reina in check, raised his middle and index fingers to the sky.

Stab!!!

Then, a black spear suddenly popped out from the ground and stabbed Roina.

“Ugh…”

Stuck on the ground, Reina turned stiff with crystal clear tears falling from her face as she watched the spear stab into Roina. She gradually stopped struggling. Even her breathing became rough at the sight of Roina collapsing.

Roina cried out painfully, “It…hurts…”

Reina’s eyes turned bloodshot as she trembled. She met Nyx’s gaze from the broken side of her mask. “Haa… Haa…”

“That mask is a very strange item. I’m sure it is an item that suppresses demons… My power is obviously lying dormant in there. Why do you have such an item?” Nyx murmured as he waved his hand, getting Reina to float in the air toward him. “It would be a pity to leave something I don’t know behind without any investigation.”

Crack!!!

With his huge hand, Nyx tore off the mask on Reina’s face and broke it into pieces.

Reina’s eyes grew wide in shock.

Crack, crack, crack!!!

She immediately raised her sword and stabbed Nyx in the ribs.

“Ugh?!” Shocked by the sudden attack, Nyx lost his senses for a moment. He staggered back and lost his grip on Reina.

Reina immediately took this opportunity to take out her sword and escape from Nyx’s grasp.

Vwoooong!!!

At the same time, Reina collapsed on the ground with her body curling up on itself.

“Ah… Aaaaaaaaaah…” Reina shrieked.

Although Reina had succeeded in landing an attack, she was also the one who had suffered from the biggest impact.

“Aaaaaaaaack!!!” Reina screamed in pain as wings made of black light sprouted from her back.

The wings looked completely different from the wings of any other living thing. Of course, it was made of light, but its form simply looked so artificial.

“This…” Nyx mumbled as his eyes flashed brightly in surprise.

Those wings clearly told him that they were made of his power. Of course, he would know. The power was something that he owned.

However, Nyx just could not understand. He had never met this woman before, so why was she carrying an item and a body that contained his own power?

“Haa… Haaa…” Reina gasped as she raised her pale and hollow face.

“No matter how I think about it, this is a very unusual situation,” Nyx murmured as he floated in the air while black pearls began to appear around him.

Reina spread her wings and flew as if she was keeping up with Nyx. Despite her still ragged breathing, she released a completely black aura and declared, “Even if I die… I will make sure to kill you here.”

At that moment, Nyx realized that he was shaking fiercely. Although the woman in front of him was weak, her tenacity and momentum were out of this world. Her voice and gaze showed fury and resentment as she moved to attack.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!!!

At the same time, a dark ray of light fell upon Nyx. It was a very unexpected and unprecedented magical bombing.

***

Inside the dark forest, the only surviving man gasped for breath. “Haa… Haa…”

He was close to death as he leaned on a tree trunk. Looking at the corpses that surrounded him, he could not help but laugh derisively. This was how he was going to die, but the man had no regrets.

After all, he had been an abandoned assassin and informant. Reina was the one who had saved him from dying that useless death. The man would do anything, even sacrificing his life, for Reina. However…

“I’m so freaking sleepy,” the man murmured listlessly as he tried to look around with his blurring vision.

He had bought enough time for the party, but nothing really mattered now.

Just then, he saw a figure approaching him as he believed that he had no lingering regrets.

“Let’s stop being sentimental.”

***

The current situation inside the cave was disastrous. Crusader Roina’s condition after receiving a fatal wound was unknown. No one knew if she was alive or dead. There was also Mercil who was vomiting mouthful after mouthful of blood ever since his mana flow had been reversed. And as if the situation was not yet disastrous enough, the priestess Essylt had also passed out from being overwhelmed by the enemy’s power.

The party’s situation was indeed disastrous. However, Reina’s condition was the most serious of all. She was entirely dripping with blood. Only her black wings allowed her to move as she attacked Nyx like crazy. And with every flap of her wings, a part of her skin would turn black.

The ceiling had already started to collapse, stones and rocks falling from above and reducing the ground that Reina could use as a foothold inside the cave. Despite having little to no room to move, Reina was still able to move smoothly and swiftly as she dug into Nyx while avoiding the downpour of 9th Circle dark bullets that he sent out. Her agility made her look like a performing acrobat.

Bang!!!

Although Nyx’s attacks grew stronger as time went by, Reina continued to stand up to fight. She did not care about receiving hits from Nyx’s dark bullets and being slammed to the ground.

Reina was aware that she did not have much longer to live, especially since she was burning her soul. However, she still continued with what she was doing, her movements becoming even faster. She also started to draw out the basic and primary power of her soul, a power that would allow her to enter the cycle of reincarnation.

“This is amazing! You have so much resentment and anger toward me that you’re even willing to burn your soul! I can see it clearly!” Nyx cried out in surprise.

Reina’s gaze turned colder as she launched a fiercer attack.

Crack!!!

As if to reward her recklessness, Reina’s attacks started to reach Nyx successfully, breaking his body down little by little.

Her fierce offensive was simply a horrendous and gruesome suicide attack. Even the light armor that protected her had already been torn to pieces, with her arm hidden beneath so injured that bones could be seen.

However, Reina’s attack only grew more intense and desperate.

At that point, even Nyx was bound to be shocked. The more the woman in front of him became injured, the darker her eyes became and the stronger she felt. As a mage, Nyx was very curious. What on earth did she experience for her to push herself like this?

And Nyx, who fell into such useless thoughts, accidentally showed a gap in his defense that Reina immediately took advantage of.

“This!” Nyx shouted in panic as he cast a defensive spell in a hurry.

Reina quickly broke Nyx’s black shield and landed an attack on him. After all, even if the ego had collapsed, Caldeiras would still be Caldeiras. The sword in and of itself was very lethal for Nyx.

Just as the sharp tip of the sword was about to smash Nyx’s skull, the sword in Reina’s hands stopped in the air. It was as if something had seized it in the air.

Reina’s vision turned black as her entire body stiffened. Of course, since she could not move her wings, she fell helplessly onto the ground. And being incapable of controlling her fall, she suffered a devastating blow. That was when she saw the minute hand of the clock behind Nyx about to make a full turn.

Although Nyx did not cast any magic, Reina had collapsed from the overuse and overload of power.

“What a pity. As a mage, I find it interesting to find out what’s driving you so much…”

“…”

“But time is not on your side. Although we are enemies, there are very few people who display such tenacity as you. You have my respect.”

Reina’s teeth broke from her gritting them fiercely. Tears fell down her distorted and ugly face as she kept thinking, ‘I have to win. I have to win no matter what.’

However, the victor of this battle was already clear. Even after she had been given a second chance, Reina still failed in the end.

Through her blurred vision, Reina saw the huge clock behind Nyx begin to emit a gloomy light. She watched as the minute hand kept ticking, sentencing her to her inevitable fate. And all she could do was bite her lips in anger, blood dripping down her chin.

Reina felt like she was being punished. She wanted to ask Goddess Freyja, the progenitor, the creator of the world, what she had done wrong for her to experience something like this. Unfortunately, the Goddess could not answer her.

She then began to wonder if her great suffering and failure was due to her own incompetence. She had to be useless to be punished in such a manner once again.

The black aura seeping out of Reina turned a shade darker as her will broke apart. Her pristine white aura was almost gone now, with only a few spots left in her body.

Reina could not resist the darkness. After all, she had lost most of her strength and her body’s activities were already slowly coming to a halt.

After seeing the minute hand come ever so close to the number twelve, Reina slowly closed her eyes. She was about to completely close them to leave the misery and sorrow behind…

Clack!!!

When an abrupt and loud sound rang out right next to her ears, Reina’s eyes widened in shock. She glanced at the clock’s minute hand, the source of the Death Sentence magic, which had stopped moving.

Clack, clack!!!

To Reina’s surprise, the huge chunk of mana that had created the enormous clock from a 9th Circle mage’s magic suddenly became unstable.

“What…is this…?” Reina asked as she suddenly felt someone carry her up.

“Someone here doesn’t know how precious life is. You’re even trying to destroy my streak of success by killing yourself, huh?”

“You… You…”

“Time’s up. It took a while for me to warm up.”

Reina could hear the relaxed and calm voice. Who the hell did that voice belong to? Her slowly darkening consciousness suddenly broke out of the water and became clear once again. For some reason, she could not tell what she felt. Was she feeling surprised? Confused? Whatever it was, they were all baseless.

At the moment, only one thing was for certain. The relaxed and composed feeling that washed over her was something that she had not felt in a long while. It had been quite a long time since she felt like she had slept properly.

“A total of 13,372 tries,” the man mumbled languidly as he raised the hand that was not holding on to Reina.

At the same time, a blue sword emitting a terrifying aura appeared in the man’s hands and moved swiftly.

“What…?”

“I have completely memorized all of the joints and holes in your bones.”

“…”

“Doing this in hard mode doesn’t mean that the first round’s boss becomes the final boss.”

Slash, slash, slash, slash!!!

The blue sword moved swiftly, leaving afterimages behind as hundreds of hairline cracks appeared on the huge clock behind Nyx.

“I don’t really accept watches unless they're made by a world-renowned brand. Next time, bring Ca***r.”